Realmac Software, the guys who brought you the popular to-do iOS app Clear, the iOS camera app called Analog Camera and the gorgeous scrapbook app for the Mac, Ember, today shared their roadmap for Clear. As iOS 7 gets its official release date – September 18 – developers are busy updating their warez with the matching flattened look and support for new technologies Apple added to it mobile operating system.
As Apple still doesn’t allows developers to introduce paid upgrades to existing App Store apps, some developers – Realmac Software included – have opted to re-release their apps as a separate, iOS 7-specific download…
Realmac, writing on its blog:
As the App Store doesn’t offer upgrade pricing, we’ll be launching Clear for iOS 7 at an introductory price – details of which we’ll be announcing soon.
As a result, Clear for the iPhone and iPod touch won’t be receiving any further updates.
If you’re planning on getting the upcoming paid upgrade, you should enable iCloud in the existing Clear app so all your to-dos get carried over to the iOS 7 version of the app seamlessly.
“If you’re planning to remain on iOS 6, we’d advise you to pick up a copy of Clear for iPhone as it will be removed from sale once iOS 7 launches,” Realmac advises.
I’m not sure I’m fond of App Store re-releases as a band-aid solution to tackle the upgrade pricing issue.
Much of the promise of the App Store revolves around paying for an app once and getting upgrades free of charge. On the other hand, it’s unrealistic to expect that developers will provide lifetime support and free upgrades to existing apps.
I mean, even Apple had to post Logic Pro X, a massive update to its audio editing suite for the Mac, as a Mac App Store re-release so existing users are forced into a full-cost purchase.